________________________________________________________ Attaining the MDGs and Sustainable Growth with Equity
1. Additional 966 million on top of the 180 million allocation for purchasing reproductive health commodities (i.e pills, IUD, condoms etc.) Refer to Table Rationale: To strengthen reproductive health advocacy and support family planning initiatives. The additional amount of 966 million shall be utilized upon the condition that the said amount shall be suballotted by DOH to LGUs which shall apply for the utilization of the fund for the purchase of reproductive health commodities (i.e. pills, IUDs, condoms) and the conduct of family planning seminars in local communities. Refer to Table 13 to see the budgetary requirements needed to fund the purchase of family planning commodities from the period of 2007-2010. 2. Additional 315M to the 10.611M proposed FY 2008 Health Promotion and education budget
Table 37: Budgetary Requirements for Family Planning Commodities (DOH, 2008) Budgetary Resource Requirement Gap FY s (in billion pesos) 2007 1,059 879 2008 1,146 966 2009 1,236 1,056 2010 1,250 1,070
Rationale: The proposal to put ‘health in the hands of the people’ and focusing on public health service would imply a need to have intensive health promotion activities. Behavior change communication (BCC) approach is important. Harnessing of local partnerships would require strong information and advocacy campaign. 2.1 Aggressive Promotion of Breastfeeding Aggressive promotion of breastfeeding has to be supported to improve mother and infant nutrition. It is important to heighten the promotion of breastfeeding to encourage exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months to continue up to two years with food supplementation. Considering that breast milk contains a high concentration of antibodies that protect children against certain infectious diseases. 2.2 Advocate Healthy Lifestyle Because of low income and lack of education on nutrition, food of low nutritional content (instant noodles and alike) have become part of the Filipino family’s diet. Consequently, unhealthy eating habits lead to frequent consumption of food with high-fat, salt and sugar content which have made people, especially children and adolescents, vulnerable to such diseases as heart disease, diabetes, kidney problems and cancer (Simbulan, N. P., unpublished paper, 2003) 2.3 Support Behavioral Change and Improved Perception on Generics A related concern is improving the credibility of generic drugs. Educating people will help induce behavioral change on the public and clear misconceptions that generic drugs are not as effective as their branded counterpart because they can be bought at a cheaper price. In addition, research work in this area must be improved, our policy on generics needs to be strengthened –guidelines, implementing rules must be provided.
2008 Alternative Budget Initiative
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